An American In Paris - Winner 1952

An American In Paris (1951) is a mediocre film. It has the disadvantage of being a musical, which I dislike, since I find it next to impossible for the advent of song and dance to come out of everyday situation. However, this film does manage to integrate the two better than most. Typically singing and dancing is used when the characters are happy and expressing joy. Beyond the musical aspect, however, the film is so average.

The film follows Jerry Mulligan (Gene Kelly) as an ex-GI who stayed in Paris after World War 2. He is an artist trying to make his fame, like the greats that inspired him. This already is such a cliched character type that I found myself being bored within the first three minutes. Jerry is discovered by a rich woman who wants to be his patroness and perhaps a bit more, while Jerry becomes enamored for a young French woman Lise (Leslie Caron). Caron smiles and looks pretty and puts out one of the most laughably bad performances I've seen in a movie that got this many awards.

The two have there little affair all the while, she is apparently engaged to another man, whom Jerry knows. Her reason for being engaged to him is ridiculous and makes little to no sense. Inevitably she chooses her fiance because of her obligation and gives up true love. Jerry attempts to forget his misfortune by finally taking up with the patroness although he feels nothing for her. There is a confrontation scene between Jerry and Lise at a party, where Lise reaffirms her decision woefully as her fiance watches from a dark corner unnoticed.

There was about twenty minutes left when this scene took place and I expected an interesting resolve. Well I can't say I didn't get that. The movie proceeds into a seventeen minute, no dialogue, music and dance sequence. I'm not sure if it was just extravagant dance or if there was a story being told that I wasn't picking up on. Regardless, if I wanted to see a dance performance I'd go to a dance performance not watch a film. After this elaborate sequence, the film comes back to its reality and forces a conclusion down our throat in a minute flat.

Beyond its musical leanings this film was uninteresting and poorly performed. It feels like a better story could have been told here, even in musical format. For one who enjoys musicals I'm sure its perfectly delightful, but it was not deserving of its best picture award.